LeRoy’s famous Creekside Tavern & Inn may finally be re-opening for business. That’s if the Village receives a state grant to revitalize its downtown.

The LeRoy Business Council is leading the charge to apply for up to $500,000 under the NYS Main Street Grant Program. The money would be used to repair brick facades on at least seven businesses, and create 2nd-floor apartments downtown.

The state requires that any grant application must include an “anchor” project. For LeRoy, that is the Creekside Tavern & Inn – an anchor business for years before fire destroyed it in 2004.

Business Council Treasurer Jim Nielsen says the Creekside is a landmark.

"It is a beautiful site, and it's one of the key higher-end restaurants in LeRoy," says Nielsen. He is the head of the Business Council committee dedicated to the Main Street Grant application.

"They've got some great plans to be able to use that facility for events from outside the area – weddings and so forth," Nielsen says.

Rochester contractor Bill Farmer owns the Creekside and has been working to restore it since 2007. According to Farmer's website, structural and damage and years of disrepair complicated the already fire-ravaged site, and those factors have been slowing the rebuilding process.

Nielsen expects that a round of state funding would push the costly project to completion.

Other area municipalities that have received Main Street grants include Batavia ($200,000/Business Improvement District, 2005); Warsaw ($200,000/Greater Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, 2005); and Perry ($200,000/Perry Area Chamber of Commerce, 2009). The Orleans County Economic Development Agency also received a $200,000 Main Street grant in 2006.